NO LOOKING BACK An Ethina Story By: Lil' Chrissy
by Lil Chrissy
Summary: A sinister man from Ethan's past arrives in Port Charles, looking for Ethan- now he comes face to face with his past, his parent's murder, missing diamonds and must deal with losing everything- his family, friends, but most importantly, Kristina!


**NO LOOKING BACK**

***An Ethina Story- Follow up to Birthday Wishes***

**By: Lil' Chrissy**

**PART I**

The late afternoon October sky was beginning to fade to twilight. A slight breeze rustled autumn leaves that sparsely covered the oak trees in the park, as Ethan made his way to meet Kristina at Kelly's. He had finally admitted his love for her during her 18th birthday party at Windermere. Looking back he couldn't believe he had waited so long. It was so easy being with Krissy, totally different than his short-lived relationship with Maya. A smile crossed his lips as he remembered their first kiss. He was taking Kristina to the Metro Court for dinner- their first official date and as he cut through the park, he noticed a man selling flowers. He stopped and picked out a single pink rose- Kristina's favorite flower. As he stood in front of the flower cart, he suddenly got the feeling someone was watching him. A shiver crept down his spine as he looked around, but he didn't see anyone. That wasn't the first time he had felt like he was being followed or watched lately and it reminded him of a time he had tried to forget. Why was he feeling like that again? It was unsettling, but he didn't notice anyone out of the ordinary and continued to Kelly's. Little did Ethan know- his instincts were right.

Kristina was sitting at the counter talking to her grandfather when Ethan walked into Kelly's. He quietly crept up, reached around and held the rose in front of her. She spun around with a huge smile.

"Hi!" Kristina stood up to give Ethan a huge hug and kiss.

"How's my girl?" No one could miss the sparkle in his eyes.

"Excited for our first official date. I was just telling grandpa what happened at my birthday party."

"I'm sorry I missed it. Sounds like it was a great party", Mike said as he extended his hand to Ethan. He shook it. "Make sure you take care of my granddaughter."

Ethan put his arm around Kristina, "Always. Are you ready to go luv?"

Kristina grabbed his hand, "I'm ready when you are. Talk to you later grandpa."

"Have fun you two", Mike added as they left.

"Reservation for Lovett", Ethan said to the hostess upon arrival at the Metro Court.

They were escorted to a table next to the window with a view of the harbor.

"This is a great table", Kristina commented. The fog was rolling slowly towards the shore as a storm approached .

The waiter came by to take their drink order.

"I'll have a beer", Ethan ordered. "Krissy?"

"I'd love a diet coke."

"Certainly. I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order." The waiter went to get their

drinks.

Ethan and Kristina looked at the menu. "Any idea what you feel like?", Ethan asked.

Kristina surveyed the menu's 5 pages of cuisine. "There's so much to choose from. I'm not sure what I feel like."

"Well, I'm having steak. I've been looking forward to this all week. Do you want an appetizer?"

"Sure. How about some calamari?", she suggested.

"I'm not big on octopus!" Ethan pinched his nose as if he smelled something rancid.

"Have you ever tried it?"

"No. I try not to eat anything with scales and suction cups!", he quipped.

"How do you know you don't like it if you haven't tried it? Come on Mr. Lovett! Time to try new things", she egged him on.

"I'll leave that to you luv." He reached over and patted her hand.

The waiter came by and took their order. They ordered the spinach dip for an appetizer. Ethan asked for a steak, medium rare, with a baked potato and vegetables. Kristina had decided on halibut w/garlic butter to be served on the side, with mashed potatoes. sour cream on the side and Cesar salad, with dressing on the side. The waiter went to put the order in.

"Wow. On the side is a big thing with you, isn't it? I hope the chef doesn't sneeze in your food!", Ethan teased.

"Well, I want it how I want it. Why should I pay for something I won't like?"

"I see your point. I think it's endearing", he added with a wink. Kristina giggled.

She excused herself to run to the bathroom when Ethan noticed a man 3 tables down watching Kristina as she walked away. The man realized Ethan had seen him looking and quickly glanced down at the newspaper he had in his hands. The guy seemed out of place- dressed in black jeans and black cowboy hat. He definitely wasn't dressed for the Metro Court. Ethan took a sip of his beer but when he looked up again, the man had disappeared.

Ethan felt uneasy and quickly eyed the restaurant to see where he might have gone, but didn't see him. That was the 3rd time he had felt something wasn't quite right. Kristina returned from the bathroom just as the appetizer arrived.

"I'm starved!" She dug a piece of bread into the spinach dip. "This is really good." Ethan joined her, but looked distracted. "Are you okay?"

He didn't want to alarm her. "Yeah, everything's great", he covered. Although he was still on edge, he tried to put it out of his mind. He motioned for the waiter, "Can I get a Crown Royal on the rocks, tall please?"

"What's wrong?", Kristina was concerned. She could tell something was bothering him.

"Nothing. So, have you spoken to your father lately?" Ethan changed the subject.

"Not since he took off to the island. I guess he's trying again with Brenda. I really hope they get it right this time. From what I've heard, they've got quite a history. She's such an inspiration to me. Look at all the work she's doing with the kids and ASEC. I'd love to make a difference like that someday."

"You will luv. I have every confidence in you." He smiled and rubbed her hand.

"I just realized something." Kristina decided to broach a subject she'd been wondering about for awhile.

"What's that?"

"You've never told me about your parents. I wish I could have met them."

Ethan let out sigh. "My adoptive parents were the best and I had a great childhood- complete with celebrated birthdays and every holiday. My father taught me how to ride a bike, throw a baseball and even shoot a bow and arrow. In Australia, soccer is a big sport and my father was coach of my little league team. We made it all the way to win the championship the last season… before he died. My mom was always very supportive and went to all of my games- picture June Clever from 'Leave It To Beaver'", he chuckled. "I guess you could say I grew up in an apple pie life- until…." His voice trailed off.

Kristina noticed his eyes suddenly darken as he turned to look out the window. He was silent for a minute and Kristina wondered if she should have brought it up. She was about to change the subject when he looked back at her.

"I've never really told anyone what happened because I don't like to think about it. It's [I]my[/I] fault my parents died."

Kristina's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

Ethan's usual light-hearted tone, gave way to a seriousness Kristina had never heard before. There was a distant look in his eyes, even though he was looking at her.

"I got my first job when I was 15 years old as a courier for a delivery service. It was my job to pick up packages, then deliver them for the owners- the Scolari brothers (Joseph and Frankie). I'd been working for them for about 2 months after school, riding my bike to make the deliveries. I never knew what were in the packages or what their business really was and I never asked. One day I had gone to the office to pick up my check when I heard a confrontation between the buyer, some guy named Manelli, and Joseph. Manelli was threatening to kill both of the Scolari brothers if he didn't get his diamonds. That's when I realized what was really going on. Turns out they were smugglers, who were sneaking diamonds and rare gems into Australia, selling them on the black market. Joseph spotted me and told Manelli that I had stolen his merchandise- that I'd know where they were. One of his thugs grabbed me, took me to the warehouse and beat me up. He kept asking what I did with the diamonds. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, that Joseph had lied to him, but it was no use. They threatened to kill me and aimed a gun at my head."

Kristina's mouth dropped, as she continued to listen, "Oh my God!".

"At this point, I realized I was in big trouble. The thugs weren't getting anywhere with me and went to speak to their boss. They dragged me to the office, where I was tied to a chair. I could hear Manelli yell at them to kill me. I knew if I didn't get out of there, it was over. I had been working on untying the ropes and managed to break free, then I snuck out the office window. I ran. I wandered the streets afraid to go home, but realized

they'd most likely look for me there. I decided I needed to warn my parents about what happened so we could get out of town. I sneaked in the back door, thinking they'd be watching the front. I called for my parents but didn't get an answer. It was eerily quiet. I walked through the kitchen and noticed a bunch of stuff had been pulled from the drawers, strewn on the floor- the place had been ransacked. I could hear the TV on in the living room and I slowly walked through the kitchen, then the dining room, towards the living room. I noticed a few drops of blood on the carpet near the couch….", his voice cracked. "Then I saw them."

Ethan's eyes watered and he paused for a minute before continuing. Kristina reached out and held his hand.

"It looked like my dad had answered the front door and was immediately shot in the head. Blood was all over the foyer, as well as spattered on the wall opposite the door and he had fallen backwards. My mother had been shot from behind, while sitting on the couch and she was hunched over the arm rest."

Kristina could tell he was reliving the entire scene as if it were happening at that moment. She noticed him swallow hard before finishing his story. He quickly wiped a tear from his face.

"At first I couldn't quite compute what I was looking at, then somehow, I snapped out of it. I freaked. I knew I had to get out of there, so I grabbed a few things and ran. After that, I lived on the streets for awhile and I learned how to hustle to get by. I traveled all over, with no place to call home." Ethan pulled a faded picture from his wallet. It was a photo of him with his parents, in front of a beautiful country home in Australia.

Kristina didn't know what to say. A tear streamed down her face, "I'm so sorry Ethan. I can't imagine what you've been going through. Your parent's death was not your fault you know. You were just a young kid who had no idea what was going on."

"If I hadn't been so naïve, maybe I could have realized sooner what their business was. Maybe my parents would still be alive."

Kristina could see the torment in his eyes. "Why would you ever suspect anything like that- especially at 15 years old. Did you ever go back?"

"No. I never looked back and I never wanted to. What was the point? Nothing was ever going to be the same again and I decided it was easier not to have any ties. I knew that Manelli wouldn't stop looking for me and the best thing for me to do was get out of Australia, so I came to the States."

Ethan took a huge gulp to get the rest of his Crown Royal down. Just then their food got there. He asked for another drink. They were both quiet and Ethan didn't eat much. He stared out at the darkness, obviously still thinking about his parents.

Kristina reached across the table and took his hand. "Are you okay? I shouldn't have brought up the subject. I had no idea."

Ethan gave her a small smile. "I'm glad to finally tell someone. I haven't really thought about it in a long time." He changed the subject, "How's your dinner?"

"Really good. I can't believe I ate the whole thing! I guess I was hungrier than I thought."

The waiter returned to take their plates. "Dessert?"

Kristina shook her head. "I'm stuffed. I don't think I can fit another thing in my stomach!"

Ethan chuckled. "I'd love some coffee."

The waiter returned a few minutes later with his coffee. "Are you sure you don't want dessert?", Ethan asked again.

"I'm good", Kristina patted her stomach.

The buyer, Rick Manelli, was an international supplier of stolen goods specializing in diamonds. His men had been relentlessly looking for Ethan to recover the 'missing' diamonds. They spent the past 9 years looking for him but never caught up- until now.

The same man Ethan noticed in the restaurant had been following him for a week, taking pictures, watching his every move. Sitting in his car with his partner, he made the call confirming Ethan's whereabouts. "I found him. He's been in Port Charles, just outside New York City for a little over a year. I'm sending you photos right now. How do you want me to handle it? Okay. I'll call you." He hung up the phone just as Ethan and Kristina stepped out of the Metro Court. The men followed as they left.

**PART II**

The storm had violently reached the shore, with rain coming down in sheets and fog limiting visibility to about 10 ft in front of the car. Ethan used his fog lights as he headed to the lake house. He held Kristina's hand and noticed how quiet she was, looking out the window at the passing city lights. "What's going on in that beautiful head of yours luv?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about how hard it must have been for you, always being on the run, all alone, with no one to turn to. I'm amazed at your resilience."

"Well, I just did what I had to. You'd be surprised at how well you adapt in survival mode."

Kristina wrapped her arms around his and leaned on his shoulder. Ethan looked in his rear view mirror and noticed headlights approaching fairly quickly. He continued to watch and it was clear the vehicle was not slowing down. "Put your seatbelt on", he directed Kristina.

"What's wrong?" She noticed he was glued to the rear view mirror and looked back. She saw headlights gaining fast. She quickly buckled her seatbelt. "What is this guy doing?"

Ethan sped up to see if the other vehicle would and it did. "I don't know. Hold on!" Ethan punched the gas pedal and gunned the car to 80 mph. Kristina braced herself, with one hand on the dashboard and the other holding the door handle. The other vehicle swerved into the lane next to Ethan, got even with his car and then a shot rang out!

"What the hell?" Ethan swerved to move away from the other car. He got a look at the passenger who was shooting- he didn't recognize him. The shooter raised his gun directly at Ethan, so he hit the brakes and the other vehicle went sailing past them!

"Who are those guys? What is going on?" Kristina was frantic.

"I have no idea!" Ethan thought back to the times he'd felt he was being followed recently, the man in the restaurant…. His stomach dropped, he felt sick and he hoped he was wrong.

Ethan had done a complete 360 and sped back the way they came. Unfortunately, he noticed headlights again in the distance. Ethan sped up, but the storm's fury was in full force with the wind causing the rain to fall slanted and the fog now diminished visibility to 5 ft in front of him. With the road very slick, suddenly Ethan lost control of the car, Kristina screamed and they spun off the road!

The car had careened down the gully, flipped and ultimately landed upside down. The rear passenger side tire was spinning and smoke puffed up into the pouring rain. Ethan slowly turned to see if Krissy was okay-she was out cold, with blood running down her face. Ethan's entire body hurt. He could smell gas leaking and knew he had to get them out of there- fast! His nose was bleeding and he had a cut lip. He didn't know if the thugs would be back. He carefully extricated himself, unbuckled his seatbelt, then

swung his legs to the side out the broken driver's side window. He crawled around to the passenger side.

"Kristina? Krissy?" She didn't respond. The door was crushed a little bit and he had trouble opening it. He yanked it several times and finally got it open. He unbuckled her seatbelt, then carefully pulled her out and softly placed her on the ground. The rain was really coming down and he took his jacket off, using it to shield her. "Krissy? Hey, come on luv." After a couple of minutes, she finally showed signs of consciousness and moved.

"Ethan?" She tried to sit up, but it hurt and she winced in pain.

"Don't try to sit up. Where does it hurt?"

"My side and it hurts to breath a little bit. What happened?"

"The car spun off the road." He looked up and could see the highway about 100 feet above them. "We have to get out of here- I don't know if those thugs saw us crash. Can you try to get up again?"

Kristina, little by little inched herself into a sitting position. "My right side really hurts," she described holding it. She touched the blood on her face. Suddenly she couldn't catch her breath and she started to panic. She tried to take a deep breath in, but it hurt too much. "I can't, I, I, can't breath! She gasped for air. Ethan!" She grabbed his arm.

"It's okay. Calm down. Take quick small breaths in. You're okay." Ethan coached.

Kristina was finally able to get her breathing to a point where she felt like she had enough air. She tried to stand up, but got dizzy and fell into Ethan's arms. He picked her up and carried her away from the car, headed down a small dirt trail- they had to get out of there.

Just then, the car exploded!

The thugs were on the phone and relayed they had lost Ethan. Manelli screamed on the other end, "I want him found! What the hell were you doing shooting? I told you, I want him alive so he can tell us where he stashed the diamonds!"

The thug, Travis, apologized. "We'll find him Mr. Manelli. They couldn't have gone too far." Then Travis did the unthinkable, "How do you even know that he has these diamonds- it's been 9 years?"

"Because I'm in charge of the network and I know they haven't turned up- anywhere-that's how! Since when do you question my orders? Now find out where he went and report back to me!" Manelli slammed the phone down. "Idiots!" He turned to one of his bodyguards, "Go out there and see what the hell those bozos are doing and report back to me as soon as you know where that little thief is! I'm getting my diamonds back one way

or another!"

Ethan was only about 50 feet from the car when it exploded and the force caused him to lose his balance and fall, dropping Kristina. Luckily she had landed on a bunch of wild wheat and appeared not to be further injured. He scooped her up and continued down the trail. The rain was relentless, with huge drops pounding on them, thunder and lightening illuminating the sky intermittently. Ethan had been walking for about 15 minutes when he saw a small cave opening and decided to take refuge in it- they were both drenched!

He carefully laid Kristina on the ground, on top of his jacket, just inside the cave and sat on the floor next to her thinking about what the next move should be. He tried to use his cell phone to call for help, but there was no reception. Ethan knew he had to get Kristina warm or she'd catch pneumonia, so he left to explore the cave in search of some dry wood.

Kristina woke up and looked around. "Ethan?", she called to him. She noticed

they were in a cave of some sort and shivered, as the cold wind whipped through the entrance. Ethan returned with a few pieces of wood he had found in the cave.

"How are you feeling?", he asked, caressing her back.

"I have a major headache and my side hurts. Where are we?" Kristina didn't recognize the area at all.

"I'm not sure. I came upon this cave and figured we could at least get out of the rain."

He piled the wood and then looked for something he could burn to start the fire. He pulled out a lighter from his pocket, "Good thing I keep this handy." He found a few old leaves and used them to start the fire. After a few minutes, he had a good one going. Kristina was shivering so much her teeth chattered.

"This feels good." She held her hands out towards the flame.

They were both soaked to the bone and Ethan took off his shirt and pants, then placed them near the fire to dry. "You should take off your clothes so we can get them dried."

Kristina was hesitant, feeling a bit awkward about it, but knew he was right. Her side hurt so much she had a difficult time with her shirt, so Ethan slowly helped her. Although they were in a dire situation, she couldn't help but notice how gentle his touch was or much she enjoyed his hands on her body- even if it was only for a minute. There was a definite sexual tension in the air that they both recognized, as he pulled off her clothes. She kept her bra and underwear on and Ethan couldn't help but stare- she was so beautiful. She started to blush a little when she realized he was looking at her.

He quickly turned away, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

"I think we should huddle near the fire- body heat is the best thing to ward off frostbite", she reported.

Ethan slowly walked over and sat next to her, put his arms around her and pulled her close to him. She leaned on his bare chest, staring at the fire. It felt really good to be so close to him. "You're still shaking." Ethan could feel her entire body quivering. He sat her in front of him, completely surrounding her tiny body with his. After a few minutes of silence, Ethan glanced at Kristina- she had fallen asleep in his arms.

The headlights Ethan had seen actually belonged to a semi truck. The driver observed Ethan swerve off the road and had called the police. Mac, Lucky and Dante arrived on the scene to find the driver sitting in his truck. He got out and relayed what he had seen. He pointed down the hill, "I saw it fly off down the gully. It exploded a few minutes later. I doubt anyone is alive the explosion was so big."

It was still pouring rain as the storm raged on, out of control. Lucky and Dante could see smoke billowing up. Mac took action. He called the fire department and then ordered Lucky and Dante to see if they could get to the car.

"It's pretty steep. I think we'll need to repel down. I have some rope in the trunk of my car", Lucky added.

Dante ran to the car and returned with the gear. Lucky was the first one to repel down the muddy hillside. He slowly made his way down, then yelled for Dante. He made it down and both approached the vehicle.

"Oh my God!", Lucky exclaimed.

"What?" Dante was confused.

"This is Ethan's car."

"Are you sure?", Dante asked.

"Yes. I'm positive! Ethan? Ethan?" Lucky called but didn't get an answer. He quickly ran to see it was empty.

"What the hell happened?", Dante noticed a couple of bullet holes on the driver's side.

There was blood on the steering wheel, as well as on the passenger side dashboard and they heard the faint ringing sound. Lucky searched the passenger side until he found a purse underneath the seat- it was Kristina's. Lucky answered her phone. It was Alexis. "Who is this?", Alexis was confused.

"Hi Alexis, it's Lucky."

"Lucky? What are you doing with Kristina's phone?"

He took a deep breath. "I found her purse in Ethan's car. It looks like they might have been forced off the road."

Alexis started to panic. "Oh my God! What happened? Is she okay? She had a date with Ethan tonight and he was supposed to take her to the Metro Court."

Dante noticed a doggy bag on the floor in the back, "I think they must have been on the way home". He held the bag up.

Lucky nodded. "They can't be far Alexis, we'll find them."

"Keep me posted." Alexis hung up the phone but decided to get to the scene- she couldn't just sit around! She called Sam to let her know what was going on and she agreed to meet Alexis at the crash site.

Lucky radioed Mac on what they found. "I think they must have walked off. I'm going to head down the small trail and see if I can find them. They couldn't have gone too far in this weather."

Mac confirmed the plan, so Lucky and Dante made their way down the dirt trail.

Ethan watched Kristina sleeping for awhile. He tried not to think about the danger they were in and was so mad at himself. How could he be so stupid to think they wouldn't find him? Now he had everything to lose- he had a family- a brother and sister, Luke, Tracy….Krissy. How was he going to keep them safe? He knew whomever was after him was ruthless. Many scenarios played in his mind as he tried to think of the best way to eliminate the threat, but it always came back to him leaving town. He knew it was the only way to keep Krissy safe- keep them all safe. Ethan made a plan to leave Port Charles, but he needed to make sure Kristina would be taken care of first- he had to get her home.

Kristina suddenly cried out and then jolted awake. "Ouch!" She tried to sit up too fast and felt a burst of burning pain.

"You're okay." Ethan softly whispered in her ear. "Take it easy." He helped her slowly sit up.

Kristina looked around and realized they were still in the cave. She could see the pouring rain, coming down in sheets. Thanks to Ethan and the fire, she had finally stopped shivering and was warm. She checked her clothes. They were almost dry, so she tried to put them back on. It hurt to lift her arms, so Ethan helped her put her shirt back on, then her pants.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better now that I'm warm, you?"

"I'm fine. We need get the hell out of here. As soon as it stops raining, I'll do a quick sweep of the area and see if I can figure out where we are." Suddenly thunder clapped, sending a huge echo throughout the cave, then lightening bolts struck so close, they could feel the vibration as it hit the ground. Kristina jumped back and fell into Ethan's strong arms.

"Hold on there- it's just a little thunder and lightening luv", he chuckled from her reaction. "You don't like it too much do you?"

"Let's just say, I'd feel safer if we had some rubber nearby!"

"I think we'll be fine in here", Ethan assured.

They sat back near the fire that was dwindling fast. "I'm going to check for some more wood, are you going to be okay here?" he asked.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"I won't be too long."

While Ethan was gone, Kristina could hear faint voices in the distance, echoing into the cave. She got scared thinking it might be the thugs who ran them off the road. She started to walk further into the cave to find Ethan, when he emerged from deep within carrying a few more pieces of wood. "What are you doing?"

"I heard some voices- I think those guys might be looking for us.", Kristina whispered with fear in her voice. She held on to the back of Ethan's shirt, clinging against him as they crept back towards the cave's entrance. The voices got louder and they could tell it was definitely 2 men talking to each other. Ethan and Kristina looked at each other. The voices got closer.

"I don't know if they'd have come this far up the trail", Lucky said to Dante.

"But there's no place for them to have gone or stopped back there. I think I see something- that looks like a cave. Let's check it out." Dante stealthily walked towards the opening, with Lucky just behind him. They trekked inside and noticed the fire.

Ethan and Kristina were hiding behind one of the big boulders, adjacent to the entrance and both let out a sigh of relief as they realized Lucky and Dante had found them. They stepped out from the boulder, "Boy am I glad to see you guys!", Ethan gave Lucky a quick hug. Kristina ran over and gave Dante a hug.

"How did you find us?", Ethan looked shocked.

"A trucker had seen you go off the road, called it in and then Dante and I repelled down the hillside. When we didn't find you in the car, we figured this was the only way you could have gone. Are you okay?"

Kristina was still holding her side and they could see the gash on her forehead, still bleeding a little. Dante lifted her shirt to find a huge bruise had formed on her right side. "I think I might have broken a rib or something", she described.

While Dante was checking out Kristina, Ethan took Lucky aside. "Listen mate, you have to get Krissy out of here. It's not safe."

"What happened?" Lucky looked concerned.

"It's a long story, but basically 2 thugs tried to kill us. They started shooting and then I lost control of the car- that's how we ended up here", Ethan relayed.

"There's more to the story than that Ethan, come on. Tell me what's going on." Lucky wasn't about to let him off the hook.

Ethan let out a huge sigh. He didn't want to endanger his family any more than he had to.

"I don't know Lucky, really. These guys came at us from behind, tried to shoot us and then I slid off the road- end of story."

Lucky was skeptical of Ethan's story, but decided not to push right now. He had to get them to the hospital to be checked out. He radioed Mac they had found Ethan and Kristina, which a grateful Alexis and Sam heard. Mac relayed an easier way back to the main road- looking at his map he figured they only had to continue walking east another half mile. They wouldn't need to climb back up. "We'll be there in a bit."

Dante and Kristina walked up to Lucky and Ethan, "Are you ready to get the hell out of here?", Dante asked.

"Definitely!", Kristina said.

**PART III**

Kristina was settled in her room at the hospital with Ethan by her side. He ended up with 4 stitches in his lip, but Kristina got the brunt of the injuries. Her 3rd rib was cracked and she received 10 stitches to close the gash on her forehead. She had a huge bruise on her right side and her lip had been cut a little bit. Ethan held her hand, "I'm so glad you're okay. I'm sorry Krissy."

Ethan put his lips against her hand. "It's not your fault. Does Lucky or Dante know anything about the guys that shot at us?"

"You don't have to think about that now." Ethan tried to change the subject. "Your mom and sisters will be by in a little bit. They ran to get something to eat. Do you want anything?"

"I know what you're doing Mr. Lovett and it's not going to work! Tell me what is going on? Who were those men and why did they try to kill us?"

"I don't want you to worry about it." Ethan stood up and looked out the window.

Kristina suddenly realized it had to do with the people who thought he took the diamonds. "I think I know what's going on", Kristina revealed.

Ethan looked at her. "Please, leave it alone. I don't want you to get hurt." He pleaded.

"Look, I'm in this whether you want me to be or not. That Manelli guy found you, didn't he? He sent those thugs after you?"

Ethan dropped his head and looked at the floor. "I'm not sure, but I think so. I've been feeling like someone's been following me for about a week now. I thought I might be paranoid. Now it's clear they've found me. They're not going to stop until they get what they want- even though I don't have the damn diamonds!"

"You have to let Lucky and Dante know what's going on. They can help you get these guys."

Ethan shook his head, "No. I don't want to get them involved."

"They are already involved Ethan. Let them help you, please", Kristina begged.

"I'll handle this on my own." He decided to tell Kristina his plan. "I'm leaving Port Charles. It'll be better for everyone if I'm not here. These guys are ruthless and if anything ever happened to my family…to you…." His voice trailed off as he choked back the lump in his throat.

"That isn't the solution- _running_ isn't the solution! You've been running for 9 years, don't you think that's long enough? They'll only keep looking for you and then you'll be all alone with no one to back you up. You know Johnny will protect you, no matter what. I can call my father- maybe he knows this Manelli guy. Please, Ethan, promise me you're not going to run! You're not going to leave me!" A tear rolled down her face. The thought of never seeing him again….Kristina couldn't even bear to finish the sentence.

Ethan could see how distraught she was. Reluctantly he agreed to stay, for her sake and she was right- he'd been running for so long. Now he finally had a place to call home and he wasn't going to give that up without a fight. "Okay Krissy. Just please, get some rest." Ethan kissed her and sat until she drifted to sleep.

Lucky and Dante were going over the evidence from the crash site with Mac at the station. "The bullet holes came from a 9 mm gun. Ethan told me he noticed headlights gaining quickly, then another vehicle pulled into the lane next to him and started shooting. He claims he has no idea why, but I can tell there's more to the story", Lucky relayed.

"What about the tire marks?", Mac asked looking at the crime scene photos.

"There are two sets of skid marks- there is evidence that Ethan was driving west down Harbor View Road, at an estimated speed of 80 mph, hit the breaks about a half mile from the crash site, did a complete 360 and started driving east. He skidded off the road going approximately 90 mph and finally crashed through the railing, sliding off into the gully", Dante described as he reviewed the photos. "Unfortunately, forensics hasn't been able to locate the spent shell casings. Who would be shooting at them?"

"It could be related to retaliation of some sort involving Johnny Zacharra- Ethan _is_ still working with him. Why don't you talk to Johnny and see if there's anything going on.", Mac directed Dante. "Lucky, talk to Ethan again. Get him to tell you what he's hiding. Keep me in the loop."

Johnny answered the door to find Dante. "Got a minute?"

"Detective Falconeri, to what do I owe this pleasure? I haven't done anything….lately." Johnny joked. He noticed the grim look on Dante's face and realized it was something serious.

"I know things have been escalating between you and the Cortez organization lately. Any reason they'd be trying to kill Ethan?"

Johnny's shocked expression was all Dante needed to see. "What are you talking about?" Johnny furrowed his brow, his smile faded.

Dante entered and sat on the couch. He relayed the events of the past few hours. "Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with one of your business associates or Cortez?"

"I'm sure Dante. Are they okay?", Johnny was alarmed.

"They're fine. Ethan escaped with minor injuries, but Kristina sustained a cracked rib and needed 10 stitches for a gash on her head. Is there anything you can think of, anyone, who might be after Ethan?"

Johnny shook his head, "No, except…."

"What?", Dante asked.

"I don't know if there's anything to this, but Ethan has been acting a bit on edge this past week, like something was bothering him. I never asked him about it, thinking it was probably about Luke or Kristina. Now I wish I had." Johnny shook his head, then added, "Listen, whatever you need you let me know. My entire organization is available. Was there any evidence left at the scene?"

"Not really. Well, thanks. Please let me know if you think of anything else", Dante added as he left.

Johnny was beside himself- what the hell was going on? He grabbed his jacket and headed to GH.

Ethan had fallen asleep in a chair next to Kristina's bed when Lucky arrived. He quietly nudged him awake and whispered, "We need to talk." Ethan new this was coming, so he followed Lucky to the hallway. "How is she?"

"Resting. She's under a lot of medication right now, but Steve says she's going to be okay."

"That's good. Why don't we get some coffee." Lucky suggested. Reluctant to leave Kristina, he hesitated. "Come on. You look like you could use a cup", Lucky urged.

They sat in one of the booths in the cafeteria. "I know there is more to your story than you're telling me Ethan. You need to tell me what's going on. Why were these guys after you?" When Ethan paused, Lucky added he was going to find out anyway.

Letting out a huge sigh, as if he had been holding is breath for the last 3 hours, Ethan finally explained the entire story- including his parent's murders. "I think this Manelli guy has found me. I had a feeling someone was following me over the past week, but I dismissed it, thinking I was just paranoid. I don't have these diamonds, Lucky. I don't know what to do. I was thinking of leaving town, but Krissy begged me to stay. I'm afraid everyone I know is in danger." Ethan looked at his coffee cup.

"Running won't stop Manelli from looking for you and someone you know might get hurt anyway. Do you remember what this Manelli guy looked like? What about these guys that shot at you?"

"Yes. I only got a look at the shooter briefly, but I'm sure I'd recognize him, as well as Manelli if I saw them again."

"Okay, I need you to come down to the station and look at mug shots. Maybe they've been arrested before. I want you to tell me everything, again- in detail."

They returned to Kristina's room. Ethan had an expression of fear, mixed with anger and sadness as he looked at her through the window. "I need to get back here as soon as I can- I don't really want to leave Krissy for very long."

Lucky could see the anxiety in Ethan's eyes and hear the angst in his voice. "How about I grab my laptop and you can review them online from the conference room? We'll figure out what's going on." Lucky put his hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Thanks mate." Ethan walked back in and sat down next to Kristina's bed, taking her hand in his, as Lucky went to get his laptop.

Lucky and Dante regrouped at the PCPD to fill Mac in on the latest developments. "Johnny had no idea about the shooting and I believe him", Dante reported.

"Well, I finally got the full story from Ethan. Apparently his parents were murdered 9 years ago and Ethan believes it was by someone named Manelli. Manelli thinks Ethan stole some diamonds from him and has been looking for him ever since."

"Did he take them?", Mac wanted to know.

"He has no idea where they are. When he was 15 years old, he worked for the Scolari brothers as a courier- turns out they were smuggling diamonds and rare gems into Australia. Anyway, Scolari framed Ethan and said he took Manelli's diamonds so they've been looking for him, hell bent on getting them back. He has no idea what really happened to the diamonds.

"I'll call the authorities in Australia and see if I can get any records from his parent's murders. Why don't you two see if you can run down this Manelli guy, make an ID and gather as much information as you can about the diamond black market", Mac ordered.

Lucky added, "Ethan is looking through mug shots using my laptop at the hospital in case this Manelli guy or the shooter was ever arrested in the States. I'll check with him in about an hour to see if he's recognized anyone."

"Sounds good. Keep me posted." Mac went to make some phone calls.

Unfortunately, Ethan didn't recognize anyone he had seen so far, which was frustrating. He felt a sense of urgency to find these guys- what if they tracked him to GH? Suddenly he felt like he needed to check on Krissy. He quickly went to her room, but she was still asleep- all was well. He stood at the window for a few minutes, then returned to the conference room to continue looking at mug shots. After another 15 minutes, he had gone through all the mug shots online. He called Lucky to let him know the bad news- he didn't identify anyone. He slowly walked back to Kristina's room, with a million things racing through his mind. He quietly sat next to her and drifted off to sleep.

Travis and his buddy Skaggs had seen Ethan swerve off the road, however, a semi-truck had stopped by the time they made it back to the area. They returned later, but didn't stop when they observed all of the fire trucks and police roaming the hillside.

"Dammit!", Travis exclaimed. "We've got to find that kid or Mr. Manelli is going to take it out of our hides!"

Skaggs was playing with his 6" knife, picking his teeth with the tip of it. "Let's just head to the hospital. Chances are, if they're alive, they were injured and we can get the kid there."

Travis smiled. "Smart idea." He turned to car towards GH.

Meanwhile, at the precinct, Mac handed Dante and Lucky a file. "Here's a complete copy of the file on Ethan's parent's murders- it's unsolved. Let me know if you find anything. The authorities in Australia are sending me a list of everything they have on Rick Manelli- apparently he's well-known by them. Ethan have any luck with the mug shots?"

"No. I'll have him look at a picture as soon as we have one of this Manelli guy."

Dante split up the reports, giving half to Lucky to review. They sat in silence as they perused the file. "This is interesting", Dante broke the silence. "The evidence log lists a cigarette butt was collected, but never tested for DNA, which is odd. Looks like the victim's clothing, hair and other trace evidence was sent to the lab, returned as inconclusive. I'm surprised they didn't find at least some of the hair samples belonged to the victims."

Lucky and Dante went to Mac's office and Dante explained what he found. "Can we get the evidence shipped here? I'd like to have some of it retested for DNA."

"I'll have them send it as soon as possible. It'll probably take a couple of days though." Mac turned to make the call.

Johnny made it to the hospital and as he rounded the corner, he heard a noise from the room. He glanced at the window as he passed by and noticed someone hunched over Kristina's bed! He burst into the room to find a guy, leaning over Kristina with a syringe, trying to give her something in the IV!

"Hey!" Johnny yelled, then grabbed the guy's shoulder and yanked him back, away from Kristina. He fell backwards on his ass. Johnny pulled him up from the floor by the shirt, punched him in the face, then pushed him out the door. Ethan rounded the corner and saw what was going on. The guy started to run down the hall, so Ethan chased after him while Johnny called for a nurse. Ethan followed the guy all the way down the stairwell from the 5th floor, but lost him as he exited through the parking garage. Suddenly, a black SUV with tinted windows barreled towards Ethan! He dove to the ground just before it hit him! He got up in time to notice the license plate number, as it sped out of the garage. The stitches had popped from his lip and he was bleeding again. Johnny burst through the door from the stairwell to see Ethan, out of breath, staring after the SUV.

"Are you okay?" Johnny couldn't believe what had just transpired.

"Yeah, yeah. What happened?"

"I went to see how you guys were doing and noticed someone hunched over Kristina. Any idea who that guy was?"

Ethan's silence spoke volumes. "I have to get to Krissy. Is she okay?"

Johnny patted Ethan's shoulder, "Yes. Epiphany checked and none of the drugs he was trying to give her was administered. I found the syringe next to Kristina's bed- he must have dropped it."

"Good. At least we'll know what he was trying to give her", Ethan added.

They headed back into the hospital.

Kristina had awakened hearing the ruckus from Johnny's fight, but she was confused as to what had just happened. Ethan immediately went to her side as they entered and took her hand. "What's going on?", Kristina asked.

"Johnny found someone in your room trying to shoot drugs into your IV." Kristina could see the fear in Ethan's eyes. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay. Epiphany said everything looks good."

Johnny had been standing in the doorway. Kristina motioned for him and he leaned down to give her a hug. "I'm just glad I was here in time."

Ethan's disturbed look was unsettling. He turned to Johnny, "I got the license plate number of the SUV. Can you call Jason and Sam? We need to get security for Kristina."

Johnny shook his head. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep her here- I know how these guys operate and they'll be back."

"Then I need to get her out of here!" There was a sense of urgency in Ethan's voice.

"Why don't you take her to my penthouse, the windows are bullet proof", Johnny suggested as he handed him his keys. "In the meantime, I'll let Jason know what's going on", Johnny added.

Just then Steve and Epiphany walked in. "Looks like someone tried to slip Kristina some Thorazine- it's a sedative. What's going on?", he directed at Ethan and Johnny.

"We need to get Kristina out of here. It's not safe for her. Is she okay to be discharged?", Ethan asked.

"I'd prefer it if she'd stay here overnight so we can monitor her, but it's not imperative." Steve asked Epiphany to get the discharge papers ready, then pointed at Kristina. "If you start feeling nauseous or get a headache, you'll need to come back immediately."

"No problem. Thanks." Kristina gave a sorrowful look to Ethan.

"Thanks doc. I promise, we'll come back if there are any changes." Ethan shook Steve's hand.

Johnny glanced at Ethan, then headed out to talk to Jason.

**PART IV**

Ethan filled Alexis in on the plan while Kristina grabbed some of her clothes. Although Alexis wasn't happy about the situation, she agreed it was best if Kristina went somewhere she wouldn't be found.

"Call me and let me know how you are, okay? Promise me." Alexis gave Kristina a hug.

"I've already called Jason and Sam. He's sending extra security for you and Molly. Sam is going to stay at Jason's. Don't worry, I'll take good care of Kristina", Ethan said and gave her a hug.

Ethan carried Kristina's bag into the penthouse and put it at the bottom of the stairs. She was still weak from the ordeal and sat on the couch. "Can I get you anything?", he asked.

"I'm okay. I just need to sit for a minute." Kristina leaned against the armrest, with her legs stretched in front of her. Ethan grabbed one of the throw's from the other couch and covered her. "Thanks."

He was beside himself. How could all of this be happening? "I'm sorry our first date didn't turn out so well."

Kristina reached for his hand, "Yes it did- I was with you."

Ethan was so amazed at her resilience and unconditional love for him. He leaned over and softly kissed her. "Really, how are you luv?"

"I'm okay." She tried to shift a little bit, but her side exploded in pain and she let out a little gasp.

Ethan grabbed some pain pills Steve had given her. "Here, take these", he handed her two, then quickly poured her some water.

"Thanks."

"You really need to get some rest now." He helped her up and put his arm around her as they walked towards the stairs.

He got Kristina settled in one of the guest bedrooms, then leaned down and kissed her, "I'll be right downstairs. Just call if you need anything."

"Will you sit with me until I fall asleep?"

Ethan sat on the bed with his arm around her. Kristina could feel the pills finally kicking in and after a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep.

Johnny returned from filling Jason in and saw Ethan sitting on the couch, drinking a large glass of Crown Royal. "Hey. Jason is headed over to the precinct to talk to Dante and Lucky. He agreed it was a good idea to get Kristina out of the hospital and Milo is right outside the door, so she'll have a guard with her at all times. Where's Kristina?" Johnny could see Ethan slowly slipping into despair.

"She's sleeping upstairs." Ethan lowered his head and looked at the floor. "How could I have been so stupid? I should have never stayed in Port Charles! This was only supposed to be a quick stop- score some dough, then skip out of town with no one the wiser. Now, I have a family, friends, Krissy…." His voice cracked a little and Johnny noticed his eyes watering a bit.

"Listen, we are going to take care of this guy. It'll be okay and then you and Kristina…"

"What? Live happily ever after?", he interrupted. "You know that's just a fairy tale, right?"

"It doesn't have to be. Once this has all blown over, you can pick up with your life again." Johnny could see he wasn't quelling Ethan's fears.

"I'm beginning to think everyone would be better off if I had just stayed with my original plan and left. If anything happens to Krissy or my family, I don't know what I'll do!" Ethan poured himself another drink.

"You're not leaving!"

Ethan turned to see Kristina holding her side, at the bottom of the stairs. Johnny excused himself and went off to see if Jason had any news. Ethan walked over to help her to the couch. He gently sat her down.

"You can't leave Ethan. That's not the answer and you know it." The panic in Kristina's eyes was unmistakable.

Ethan took a sip from his Crown Royal and sat down next to her. "I won't be able to forgive myself if anything happens to you. You could have been killed Kristina! Who knows what those guys would have done to you if they'd been able to drug you! This is all happening because of me and my past. You don't deserve to be dragged into this mess!" Ethan got up and paced back and forth.

"I love you! We're in this together, no matter what. That's what you do when you love someone- you stand by them through the good times and the bad. Besides, I'm already involved, they know who I am and won't stop until they get what they're after." Kristina could tell Ethan was still contemplating leaving. She slowly got up and made him stop pacing. "Look, we will figure out a way to fix this- you have to believe that. It's time for you to stop looking back."

Ethan was touched that Kristina cared so much. He had never felt so connected to someone before and knew she was right. It was time for him to face reality and close this chapter in his life. He kissed her with a passion he didn't know he had and after a few minutes, he pulled back. "Do you know how special you are? I am the luckiest man alive."

"I'll agree with you on that!" Kristina said to lighten the mood and both laughed.

"Were you able to get some sleep? How do you feel?" Ethan asked with concern.

Kristina nodded as she sat back down on the couch. "I had the strangest dream though."

Ethan looked at her curiously.

"I was in complete darkness, except for a sliver of light about 200 ft above me. I was standing in water, that was waist-high and could hear a strange dinging sound reverberating. All of a sudden I felt rain falling through the crack above me. Then I woke up."

"Wow, that is a strange dream. It's probably from the medication. I remember after I was shot, I kept having weird dreams and hallucinations."

"Hallucinations, huh? Can't wait for that!", Kristina joked.

Johnny walked back into the living room. "I guess Lucky and Dante were able to get a copy of the file from your parent's murders. They've requested the evidence collected at the scene to resubmit some of the items for DNA. It'll probably take them another day to get it though. Jason gave them the license plate number from the SUV we saw, so hopefully we'll have a lead to go on. In the mean time, Jason is having Spinelli hack into the hospital's surveillance cameras to see if there is anything we missed."

After hearing this, Ethan felt a little bit better since they were closer to identifying the thugs.

"Are you two going to be okay here? I'm going to meet with a few of my guys to see if they can dig up something on this Manelli character or these thugs in town." Johnny said as he grabbed his jacket.

"We'll be fine mate. Thanks for everything."

"Call me if anything happens and don't wait up for me", Johnny added as he left.

Kristina let out a huge sigh, "Well, I guess we're here by ourselves. What _will_ we do?" She flashed a mischievous smile.

Ethan laughed.

They were sitting on the couch talking when there was a knock on the door. Ethan opened it to find Michael, with a bunch of flowers. Kristina slowly got up from the couch and gave him a hug.

"Are you okay Krissy? I went to the hospital but they said you had been discharged and someone attacked you. What's going on?" Michael asked as he sat on the couch next to her.

"It's a long story." Kristina didn't really feel like going into it.

Ethan could tell she wasn't sure she should tell him the whole story, so he took over and filled Michael in on the past 24 hours.

"I'm so sorry about your parents. I can't imagine having to go through that. Have you figured out who these guys are and what they wanted with Kristina?"

"Not yet. Lucky and Dante are working on it with Jason. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon", Ethan relayed.

"I called dad and he's on his way back with Brenda", he informed.

Ethan left Michael with Kristina while he prepared a snack for Kristina. He returned a few minutes later with a grilled cheese sandwich. "I didn't know you could cook", Kristina smiled as she took the plate. "Thank you. I _am_ a bit hungry."

Michael took it as he que to leave. "I'll let you eat and get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow." He leaned down and gave Kristina another hug, then patted Ethan on the back, "Take care of her."

"I will mate."

Spinelli was frantically typing on his computer, hacking into the hospital's surveillance system. After 30 minutes he finally succeeded and pulled up the timeframe they were looking for. "I've got it!", Spinelli said to Jason.

"Let me see what you've got." Jason and Sam leaned over Spinelli to view it.

Spinelli brought up the view from the ER entrance which clearly showed a guy dressed all in black, with a cowboy hat, enter and look around suspiciously, then walk towards the elevators. The next view was from the 5th floor elevator and they watched the guy step off, then walk to the nurses station. He passed the nurses station, then headed towards Kristina's room at the end of the hallway and disappeared around the corner. Unfortunately, Kristina's room door was located around that corner, so they couldn't observe the guy actually entering. However, they noticed the guy briefly stopped at the nurses station and said something to Epiphany.

"I need you to print out a picture of the guy entering the ER. I'm going to talk to Epiphany. Hopefully she'll remember this guy."

"I'm going with you. I'll check out her room- maybe something was left behind that the police missed", Sam added.

Spinelli handed Jason the photo and they left to check out the lead.

Jason walked up to the nurses station, while Sam headed for Kristina's room and he pulled Epiphany aside.

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure. What's up?" Epiphany noticed the photo in Jason's hand.

"Do you recognize this man?" He handed her the photo.

She looked at it for a minute, then said she remembered he stopped to ask which room Kristina Corinthos-Davis was in. "I figured he was one of Sonny's men, so I directed him to her room. I can't believe I sent him in there! When I think of what he was about to do to her, it makes me sick!"

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen. I'm just glad Johnny happened to get to her in time. Do you remember anything else about this guy?"

Epiphany thought for a minute. "Wait a minute. He also asked if Ethan was with her and I told him I thought so. I hope that helps."

"It does, thank you." Jason left to see how Sam was doing in the room.

Sam breached the police 'do not enter' tape and entered the hospital room. She looked around. The sheets were still on the bed from when Krissy had been there- nothing had been disturbed. She quickly began checking around the bed, looking for anything the police might have missed and as she ran her fingers on the side of it, she felt something. She pulled it out from the side of the bed- it was a electronic bug that had been placed between the mattress and bed frame. Just then, Jason showed up and Sam held the bug up. Jason took it and slammed it to the ground, effectively deactivating the

signal.

Sam looked panicked. "They know where Ethan has taken Krissy. We need to warn them!"

They ran out of the hospital and headed to Johnny's penthouse.

Unfortunately, the license plate number Jason gave Lucky didn't pan out. It returned as a rental and they figured out the information on the rental sheet was fake.

Lucky shook his head, "Well, I guess that lead is dead in the water. Any idea when we'll get that evidence?"

"Mac said it would take a couple of days", Dante answered.

Just then, Lucky got a call from Jason. "Okay. We'll meet you over there."

"What's going on?" Dante was confused.

"Sam found a bug in Kristina's room- they know where she is! We have to get to Johnny's now!" Lucky's adrenaline kicked in and he hoped they wouldn't be too late!

**PART V**

Travis and Skaggs made it to Johnny's building and they checked the tenant board to find he had the penthouse. They entered the elevators and made their way to the top.

Milo was sitting in the hallway, in front of the door when he noticed 2 surely guys exit the elevator and begin to walk towards him. He immediately pulled his gun, but it was too late- a shot rang out! Milo had been shot in the leg and hit the ground!

Ethan and Kristina were in the living room on the couch when they heard the shot and Milo yell to get her out of there. Ethan grabbed Kristina and they went out on the balcony, then up the fire escape steps to the roof. Travis and Skaggs busted the penthouse door open, immediately ran to the balcony in time to see Ethan's leg disappear on the roof. They quickly followed them.

The wind was cold, relentlessly whipping through the roof top. Kristina was having a hard time moving because of her cracked rib, but she plowed through her pain, realizing the danger they were in. Johnny had shown Ethan an escape route, just in case something were to happen and he pulled Kristina towards the opposite end of the roof.

Suddenly, a succession of shots rang out!

Jason, Sam, Lucky and Dante burst into the penthouse just has several shots were fired. Jason, Lucky and Dante slowly crept up the fire escape towards the roof and quietly spread out for cover. Jason saw Travis hiding behind a ventilation duct pole. He grabbed him around the neck and rendered him unconscious, then dragged him behind it.

Lucky and Dante inched their way towards the far corner of the roof, where they could see Skaggs had grabbed Kristina, with his arm around her neck and a knife to her throat! Ethan was trying to reason with him, but he was cornered and the only way out for him was to jump.

"Come on, let the girl go. I'm the one you want and I'll do whatever you say, just let her go!"

"Fuck you! Where are the fuckin' diamonds?" Skaggs sneered.

"I'll take you to where they are, just let her go! You don't need to do this!" Ethan was quickly beginning to panic.

"You tell me where the diamonds are and maybe I'll let her live!" He turned his head and smelled Kristina's hair and whispered in her ear, "Mmmmm. Now I know why your little thief of a boyfriend wants you back- you sure smell good princess! Maybe I should just take you with me, what do you say?"

Kristina was terrified! She tried to turn her head away from him and squeezed her eyes shut, as he taunted her. Ethan felt sick inside, he had to do something! He couldn't stand to see this creep's hands all over her! He could just imagine what this animal was thinking and he started to lose control.

"If you do anything to her, I swear, it'll be the last thing you do!" Ethan threatened. "I can show you where I stashed the diamonds but I'm not going anywhere until you release the girl!"

Ethan slowly became aware that Lucky and Dante had crept up on either side of him so Skaggs could see he was outnumbered.

"Just let the girl go and we'll talk to the Judge about how you cooperated", Dante tried.

Skaggs pulled Kristina's head to the right, the knife still at her throat, acting as if he was about to slash her neck! "If you assholes come any closer, she's dead! You know I'll do it too! Back off- NOW!"

Kristina was crying and caught Ethan's eyes. He had never wanted to see such agony and horror in hers. The anger continued to build as he thought about everything he had been through, everything Kristina was going through and the pain she was in. Ethan decided he had to sacrifice himself to save Kristina- it was the only thing he could do. He continued to look into her eyes, then said, "I love you!"

Suddenly shots rang out and Kristina screamed!

Sam heard Kristina scream as the shots went off and she hurried up to the roof. She silently made her way towards the corner of the roof and could see what had happened. Kristina had Ethan's head cradled in her arms, she was crying hysterically and he had been shot in the chest! Blood spilled onto the roof and Kristina tried to stop the bleeding with her hand.

Lucky had actually shot Skaggs, who had flipped over the edge of the roof, falling on top of a car parked down below. Lucky was trying to get Kristina to let him look at Ethan. Jason had run up and looked over the rooftop with Dante, then both ran down to the street level to preserve the scene until back up arrived.

Sam went to Kristina. "Come here honey." She tried to get her to let go of Ethan.

Kristina pushed Sam's hands away, "No. No!"

"Kristina, you have to let Lucky try to help him." She carefully pulled Kristina from Ethan and tried to console her. "He's going to be fine. Lucky has called for an ambulance and I'm sure Patrick and Robin will patch him up good as new."

Kristina looked like she was in shock. Everything seemed to be in slow motion and she felt like she was floating, watching everything from above. All of a sudden, she passed out!

Kristina woke up in a hospital room at GH and looked a little confused. It took her a minute to realize where she was and what had happened. Then it all came flooding back- Ethan had been shot! She immediately tried to get up. Her side burst with pain from her cracked rib, but she didn't care. Sam, Alexis and Molly had just entered her room and quickly made her lay back down. They could see the fear in her eyes.

"Where's Ethan? Is he okay? I need to see him!" She was frantic.

Alexis told her to calm down. "He's in surgery honey. They don't know if he's going to make it, but Patrick is handling it and Ethan couldn't have a better doctor."

"Are you okay?", Molly asked.

Kristina was still in a state of disbelief. "No, no, no." She shook her head. "He's got to be okay! I won't live without him! I have to see where he is, I need to be close to him!"

Sam tried to reason with her. "Krissy, you're still in shock. Robin promised she'd let us know how he's doing as soon as she can. You need to stay put."

Reluctantly, she laid back down. Alexis had gone to ask Steve if they could give Kristina something to calm her down. It was obvious she wasn't going to be able to. Epiphany and Alexis returned and through her tears, Kristina asked Alexis to find out how he was. She felt the affects of the injection and finally fell silent, then drifted off to sleep.

Lucky, Dante, Jason, Luke and Lulu were all in the waiting room, pacing. The prognosis wasn't good and Lucky kept blaming himself for handling the situation the way he did.

"Listen Cowboy, you did what you had to do at the time. I'm sure that Ethan knows that. You have to stop beating yourself up."

"I knew I had the shot, so I took it. If only Ethan hadn't rushed at the guy- what was he thinking?" Anger welled in him, as he thought about what a stupid move Ethan made. How could he have sacrificed himself like that? They would have diffused the situation and he wouldn't be fighting for his life right now! Lucky walked away and Dante followed him.

"Ethan probably felt it was the only way out. He wasn't about to let that creep continue with the charade at Kristina's expense. He really loves her, you know. I understand why he did it- I'd do the same thing for Lulu."

Lulu walked over and hugged Dante. "I can't believe this is happening."

Just then, Tracy walked in and went to Luke, then gave him a hug. "How is he?"

"He's still in surgery. It doesn't look good though. Looks like the bullet is lodged in his spinal cord, but Patrick said he'd do his best. He lost a lot of blood."

"I can't sit here anymore. I want to talk to the suspect we were able to arrest, Travis. Want to come with me?" Lucky asked Dante.

"Are you sure?" Dante didn't think it was a great idea for him to leave the hospital.

"Yeah. Dad can call me when he's out of surgery. Besides, we won't be able to see him until he's settled in a room after the surgery. I need to get the bastard who killed Ethan's parents!"

Lulu gave Dante a kiss, then Lucky and Dante headed to the precinct.

Mac was giving a press conference on the developments when they arrived. They stayed in the background until he was done and then asked if the 2nd suspect had been identified yet.

Mac filled them in. "Yes. His name is Leroy 'Skagg's' Johnson . He was one of Manelli's top hit men and had been wanted for the deaths of 3 other men in Italy. Interpol is all over this now and I've offered our cooperation in their investigation."

"What about the suspect we arrested, Travis?" Lucky asked.

"His name is Travis Whitmore. He's been on Manelli's payroll as a hit man for the last 3 years and is most likely going to be extradited back Rome on murder charges of his own. I haven't questioned him yet, because I figured you'd want to do that Lucky." Lucky nodded.

"How is Ethan?", Mac added.

"I'm not sure yet. We won't know anything until he comes out of surgery. Patrick is handling it and apparently, the bullet is lodged in his spinal cord. He lost a lot of blood- it doesn't look too good. I couldn't just stand around doing nothing, so we came in to talk to the suspect."

Mac understood and had Travis brought to the interrogation room. Lucky and Dante entered.

"I'm not saying anything without my lawyer!"

Lucky pretended he hadn't heard him, "Did you hear something Dante?"

"No. I think there might be a fly buzzing around this room, though."

"Funny. You two should start a comedy act! I know my rights and I'm not telling you pigs a fuckin' thing!" Travis glared at Lucky, with an evil grin. "You can't touch me!"

Dante turned to close the blinds and then made a signal into the camera for Mac to cut the feed. Lucky grabbed Travis by the shirt and slammed him onto the table! He held him down by his neck.

"If my brother dies, there's no hope for you! Do you think I'm worried about your rights? Think again! We can do this the hard way or the easy way, either way I'm getting what I need out of you!" Lucky sat him upright in the chair.

Travis's nose was bleeding. "I don't know anything! Skaggs was the one in charge of this little operation- I'm just the muscle!"

Dante grabbed Travis by the neck, "We know you're the one who tried to give a sedative to Kristina Corinthos-Davis. That is considered to be Attempted Kidnapping, Assault…I'm sure we can come up with a but load of other related charges! We're willing to work with you, but you have to tell us everything you know about Rick Manelli and these diamonds he's looking for."

Travis continued to deny any knowledge of the diamonds or Manelli. Lucky and Dante looked at each other. They weren't getting anywhere, so they both left the room. Travis stewed for several minutes until the door opened.

His eyes suddenly flooded with fear and he stammered, "I'll tell you everything! I swear! Please don't hurt me! What do you want to know? I can't believe this is!" He began to weep like a little kid.

Jason had walked into the room and with a stone cold face, watched as Travis fell apart. He closed the door.

Five minutes later he came out shaking his right hand. Travis was pretty beaten up, but he finally gave them the scoop.

"According to Travis, Manelli deals in smuggled goods, but mostly handles the diamonds on the black market all through Europe. He's willing to ID Manelli. He used to work with the Scolari brothers. Apparently, Travis was there when Joseph told Manelli Ethan had taken his diamonds. Then learned from Joseph that Frankie Scolari, his little brother, had paid a debt he owed to a bookie with the diamond shipment. Manelli is unaware of this little bit of information and believes Ethan still has the diamonds."

"Did you ask him about Ethan's parent's?" Dante remembered.

"He claims that Skaggs was ordered by Manelli to find Ethan and bring him back to the warehouse. Unfortunately, they just happened to be in the way. Travis says he wasn't involved in that and I believe him."

Lucky and Dante exchanged sorrowful glances. Lucky shook his head. "Well, at least we have confirmation of Manelli's connection to the Lovett's murders and apparently, Skaggs is the one who killed them. Quite a story. Does he know what they wanted with Kristina?" Dante asked.

Jason nodded yes. "They were planning to use her as leverage to get Ethan to tell them where the diamonds were. Luckily, Johnny foiled that plan."

Lucky looked at his watch. He'd been gone from the hospital for 3 hours, with no word. He started to get really worried. "Listen guys, I need to check on Ethan at the hospital. Let me know when the evidence arrives from Australia."

"I'm going with you", Dante added and followed Lucky over to the hospital.

**PART VI**

Robin and Patrick were talking to Luke, Tracy and Lulu when Lucky and Dante got back to the hospital.

"I removed the bullet and think I've repaired the nerves, but we won't know anything until he wakes up. We also had to give him a blood transfusion since he lost so much blood. He's in recovery now and will have his own room in about an hour", Patrick relayed.

"Will he be able to walk again?" Luke was really worried.

Patrick could see the sorrow and distress in all of their eyes. "Only time will tell. We've got massagers wrapped around his legs to stimulate his muscles, which will aid in rejuvenating his damaged nerves."

"I've also got him on a new drug protocol, an anti-inflammatory and new organic pain medication." Robin added.

Luke shook Patrick's hand. "Thanks docs."

"Don't thank us yet…" Patrick and Robin walked away, somberly.

Lucky walked away and looked out the window into the courtyard. Lulu tried to console him. "Ethan's strong and he'll make it through. You know him, nothing phases him." Lulu smiled.

"I just keep playing the way this all went down and I can't help but wonder if I could have done something differently? Why did he have to lunge at Skaggs?"

Lulu turned Lucky around to make him look at her. "What's done is done. You can't look back and change anything, all you can do is move forward. Ethan is going to need our support, now, more than ever."

"You're right." He gave her a hug. "Do I have the best sister or what?"

"Damn right you do!" They both laughed.

Dante went to let Kristina know how the surgery went. She was sleeping when he walked in and was about to walk away, when she woke up.

"What's going on with Ethan?"

Dante went to sit next to her bed. "Patrick was able to remove the bullet and he thinks he repaired the nerve damage, but we won't know anything until he wakes up."

"I need to see him." Kristina tried to get up, but the pain from her cracked rib stopped her short.

"He's still in recovery. It'll be another hour before they get him into a room. You need to rest."

Kristina couldn't hold it in anymore and she broke down. "This isn't happening!", she wailed. "We finally got together and now, it could all be over! I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to him!"

Dante took her hand. "Calm down. He's going to be okay. He made it through surgery, right? That's the hard part. Please Krissy, you need to pull yourself together because Ethan is going to need all of your strength to recover."

Kristina sniffled and finally stopped crying. "Thanks. I needed to hear that." She looked like she was exhausted from her emotional outburst and Dante kissed her forehead.

"I'll let you get some rest." He left the room, but paused at the door and noticed how fragile Kristina looked, her tiny body invisible in the blankets. He hoped Ethan would be okay- for her sake.

Ethan had been in his room for about an hour when Kristina wheeled herself in. She was shocked to see him hooked up to so many wires and it scared her, seeing him so helpless. She sat in her wheelchair next to his bed and took his hand.

"It's me. What are you doing Mr. Lovett? You need to pull through this, for me, for us."

She gingerly stroked his hair away from his face and stared at him. All she could think about, was how he looked when he told her he loved her- it was fearless. He had made the decision to save her and Kristina had seen it in his eyes, but couldn't do anything to stop him. Tears began to roll down her face as she realized he was willing to sacrifice himself for her. Looking at him now, she felt more in love with him than she thought was possible.

Kristina stayed at his side, well into the night and fell asleep in her wheelchair. Although Epiphany had gone to check Ethan several times, she never disturbed her.

The next morning Luke and Tracy walked in to find Kristina still asleep in her wheelchair, holding Ethan's hand. Tracy went over and gently shook her awake. "Kristina honey, wake up."

"Is he okay?" She woke up with a start.

Luke felt so bad for her. "Everything is okay. He's still unconscious, but Patrick thinks he should be coming out of it soon." As if on que, Patrick and Robin entered to check on him. "How is he doc?"

"Well, vitals look good and I think the new drug protocols Robin suggested has helped tremendously. It's all up to him now." Patrick reported.

Then he looked at Kristina. "You need to get some rest young lady."

"I'd like to stay here with Ethan." Kristina didn't want to leave his side.

"Listen, you're still not very strong yourself and he's going to need you when he wakes up. How are you going to be there for him if you're not well? Come on. Robin, can you take her back to her room?"

Kristina kissed Ethan's hand. "I'll be back", she whispered in his ear.

Robin rolled her out of the room and got her settled back into her bed. "I want you to be honest with me. Don't shield the truth because you think I can't handle it, okay? Is Ethan going to recover?"

Robin sat next to the bed. "I don't know, honestly. I will tell you that his vitals are strong, he's responding well to the medications and he's young. It's really up to Ethan now. The sooner he comes out of the coma, the better."

Kristina was grateful that someone trusted her enough with the reality of the situation. "Thanks Robin."

"I'm going to ask Epiphany to give you something to help you sleep. Get some rest and I'll check back with you later." Robin gave a little smile as she left.

Epiphany came in with the injection. The only thing Kristina kept repeating in her mind was, "Please God, let him live. Please. Please. Please." After a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep.

At the station, Mac was talking to Agent Feinstein from Interpol, briefing him on the information that Lucky and Dante were able to get from Travis. He was pleased with the progress, but kind of acted a little taken aback at the reference that Manelli was connected to the Lovett's murders. At any rate, he made arrangements to extradite Travis back to Italy to stand trial for 3 other murders he finally confessed to- thanks to Jason. Not that Feinstein knew why he confessed, but at least he could close the book on the murders.

Lucky and Dante checked in.

"How's Ethan?" Was the first thing Mac wanted to know.

"Well, Patrick repaired the damage but we're still waiting for him to wake up. So we'll see." Lucky relayed.

"How's Kristina?"

"Hanging in there. I think she's a lot stronger than everyone thinks", Dante answered. "What's the latest from Interpol?"

Mac filled them in. "We've been officially taken off the case, it's now completely in Interpol's hands. Can you turn over all of the investigation files to Agent Feinstein as soon as possible?"

"No problem. But what about this Manelli guy? He's probably going to still send someone after Ethan. Is it smart to pull out of this? I'm sure this Agent could care less about Ethan." Lucky was worried.

"I'm sure Manelli has heard about Skaggs and Travis by now and won't make another move- especially when he learns Interpol is all over this."

Lucky still didn't feel good about it. "It'd be better if we at least had someone guarding both Ethan and Kristina at the hospital."

"I can spare a couple of guys for a few days, but that's it", Mac reluctantly agreed.

"Thanks."

Kristina was out of bed, staring out the window, when Sam lightly knocked on her door. She could see that Kristina was slowly losing her grip and urged her to get back in bed.

Sam tried to get a read on how she was doing. "How are you?" Kristina didn't answer, but looked at her with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what to do. Ethan hasn't regained consciousness and I'm scared he's never going to." Kristina wiped away the tears from her face.

Sam's heart went out to her. She hated to see her sister in such emotional turmoil. "All you can do is have faith that he'll be okay. I've been where you are. When Jason had that brain tumor, I was so scared, I didn't know how to handle it. I prayed every night and did what I could for him. I think sometimes things happen to make us stronger, to realize what we have so we don't take them for granted and to learn from past mistakes. You have to stay strong, especially because Ethan is really going to need someone to stand by him."

"I love him so much Sam. I didn't think I would ever feel this way and I wish so much time hadn't been wasted!"

Sam could see Kristina's frustration at the situation. Alexis and Molly walked in with a bunch of pink and white balloons. Molly ran to Kristina's bedside, "We thought these would cheer you up!' She reached over and gave Kristina a hug.

"Thanks." Alexis and Sam exchanged glances, as Kristina's face told the whole story of her pain.

Just then Robin popped her head in. "Ethan finally regained consciousness. I figured you'd want to see him." She rolled in a wheelchair for Kristina. Relief spread across Kristina's face, as if the sun shined bright again and she said a little prayer, thanking God. It was the first time anyone had seen her smile in 2 days.

Luke, Tracy, Lucky, Lulu and Dante were standing around the bed when Kristina got to the room. Luke could see how much Kristina loved his son. "Let's give these two a little time." He rubbed Kristina's back then they left them alone.

Ethan was still groggy from the medications but he attempted to smile through his pain, as she rolled over to him in her wheelchair. She reached over and softly kissed him. "How do you feel?"

"Like I have 10 kangaroos on my chest! Are you okay?" Ethan looked her up and down.

"I'm better than you are!", she joked to lighten the mood.

Ethan tried to chuckle, but it hurt too much.

She held his hand and kissed him again. "I thought I'd never see you again." Kristina couldn't choke back her tears and fell apart, sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's okay sweetie", he kissed her hand. "I'm not going anywhere luv."

Kristina laughed through her tears. "You'd better not! What did Patrick say about your prognosis?"

Ethan detected a hint of panic in her voice and he soothingly rubbed her hand. "Looks like with a lot of physical therapy, I'll regain full use of my legs. I can move my toes and feel my legs."

Kristina let out a huge sigh. "Thank God! I've been so worried!" She looked deep into his eyes, straight to his soul. "I wouldn't have been able to live without you!" Although she was happy he was okay, she was upset by what he had done. "What were you thinking charging after that guy, who had a gun? That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen!"

Ethan tried to chuckle, but it hurt and he let out a gasp, trying to stifle his pain. "I didn't know what else to do and I figured Lucky and Dante would be able to take a shot if Skaggs was distracted. It worked."

"It almost killed you!" Kristina raised her voice. She could see the love in Ethan's eyes. "Please, don't ever do that again, promise me? Seriously, my entire world shattered when I saw you bleeding on that rooftop. I really thought you had left me." She choked up again.

"I knew it would be okay somehow. I'd do it all over again if I had to! I will never let anyone hurt you Kristina, ever again! You are my everything and I can't breathe without you."

Kristina leaned in and gave him a kiss, then both fell silent as they realized how lucky they were. Ethan was feeling the affects of the pain medication and as he drifted off to sleep, Kristina knew they would always be together.

[COLOR=red]**[B]Coming Soon-the sequel, 'No Where To Hide'[/B]**[/COLOR]


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